Florida-Grown Fiction: Hiaasen Satirizes The Sunshine State
On life on the water
"It takes you back to a time when ... the principal way to get around was by boat or canoe or dugout. Before there was I-95, I-75 and the Turnpike, the Seminole Indians traveled by water, and [so did] everybody else who ever tackled Florida. The problem of conquering Florida was a problem of how do you get there and hold it. It's still a very peaceful thing. As I said, I go down to the Keys a lot. I can get in my boat — I have a small skiff, but I can get back into backcountry and the places where you may not see another boat for a whole day, and if you do, it's just at a distance. And you're just out there and there's dolphins, sawfish and turtles everywhere, and you think, 'This must be what it looked like when they first got here.' And that's a pretty cool thing. That's not true everywhere, but it also gives you something to fight for. ... You don't give up despite all the madness and insanity and corruption that's just multiplying with each generation of arrivals."
On how columnists can be agents of change
"The one thing a column does is it gives readers a sense that they're not the only ones who feel a certain way: 'Oh good, he not only agrees with me, but he's putting it in writing.' It strengthens the positions of those whose voices are not always heard, or not always listened to, as they should be. ... I don't think anyone sets out to change the world, and I think if you have that delusion going into journalism you're going to end up disappointed. All you can do is write what you feel, stick to your conscience, stick to your guns, and sometimes it's not always popular, but the readers do respond, I will say that."
Author Interviews
Paparazzi Take Center Stage In Hiaasen's 'Star Island'